Air Filters: Choosing Portable Equipment…Plus

We are learning that people feel better and perform better when their homes and schools have good indoor air quality (IAQ). Illnesses such as asthma, respiratory infections, allergies, lung cancer and environmental sensitivities are associated with poor air quality. Schools may tend toward poor indoor air quality (IAQ) for several reasons, including a concentration of classroom materials (such as art and science supplies), tight budgets that reduce maintenance, and because of high occupant density (Schools house approximately four times as many people as office buildings per square foot). There is much pollution-generating activity in classrooms, and often there are nonexistent, outdated or poorly maintained mechanical ventilation systems. Source control (avoiding the problem of dirty air) and ventilation (diluting pollution) help provide good air quality, but filtration of the air with portable devices is also sometimes useful.

This article is written for schools, but much of the information is transferable to other building types such as day cares, homes and offices.